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A 8 String Kind Of Monster . . . .


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DA DA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA :DB):D

After a long wait and several hold up I can present the first picture of my 8 String Tune-o-Matic bridge . . 16" radius, complete with locking down nuts in solid stainless steel! ;)

SL373384.JPG

The picture is from the company who is making it as they haven't quite finished it yet - the correct screws are arriving at there place tomorrow.

This picture is the first time I've seen my design in the flesh and I think it looks pretty damn good! B)

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Holy crap that is sexy :D

But those intonation screws look screwed up. (Yea I know they're not right ones)

-Juze aka Ghroath

Nothing is screwed up. I have photos of side showing the radius of the screws . . . they were just put in to test the saddle threads. B)

I cannot wait get my grubby hands on it!

I am very excited! I'll tell everyone the full details of it once I've got it but lets just say it not just a copy of a six string there is several differences and improvements . . B)

I do believe it's the first and only 8 string Tune-o-Matic .. . in the world . . . unless someone can prove my wrong? :D

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Did I already say "WOW" in any of your topics? Those woods look incredible (especially the neck and the fretboard), the shape also looks great (and seems rather slim, but that might be caused by the huge PU cavities) and now this... 8 string TOM. Cool stuff! I can't wait to see the final thing...

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Well in flurry of sawdust, sweat, snot and tears* - it's starting to take form:

IMG_0932.JPG

IMG_0933.JPG

IMG_0934.JPG

* those who have worked rosewood with the kind of nasty sawdust that Siam Rosewood has (much akin to Cocobolo I think) you'll understand the snot and tears thing! It's bloody horrible stuff even with masks and glasses on.

The shaping of the back of the neck was certainly a challenge - as I discovered Siam rosewood is incredibly tough - I normally rough shape an Afzelia Xylee neck in about 30-45 minutes this however took the best part of 2 hours and it's still but no means perfect.

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21 years . . the cheek! :D

I am assured by the machining company that a production run would be quick and easy now the initial sample pain is over - well that is as long as when I get it all is ok. I'd be making a trip down to the company to oversee any production run. I am starting to speak with possible distributors so fingers crossed this could be a bit more than just a custom order at a machine shop.

:D

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Check the datestamp on your pic....unless that's the Buddhist calendar in which case it's slow.... X-D

D'OH! :D

Is an 8 string TOM really a good idea? The intonation room is going to be very tight.

That'll be why I've re-designed it from scratch . . . B)

In that picture it might look the same as 6 or 7 string but it ain't! B)

Once I get it and have had time to test it out I'll reveal all. :D

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Is an 8 string TOM really a good idea? The intonation room is going to be very tight.

It looks fine to my eye. Dropping the whole bridge position back so the minimum intonation point for the high E coincides with the saddle at it's furthest forward point, and angling the bass side back by ~3mm looks like more than enough "hard wired" compensation.

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Is an 8 string TOM really a good idea? The intonation room is going to be very tight.

It looks fine to my eye. Dropping the whole bridge position back so the minimum intonation point for the high E coincides with the saddle at it's furthest forward point, and angling the bass side back by ~3mm looks like more than enough "hard wired" compensation.

And/or you could make the width of T-o-M wider and ensure that the saddles are positioned so they protrude higher out of the bridge bodies and have a lower bridge body so that with Ferrules you virtually the full saddle adjustment with out the strings dragging on the bridge body . . . ahem . . . well I guess someone could do that! :D

:D

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Yeah, that's a problem I encountered on a TOM build I have in the works which uses ferrules. It's worse than people slamming their stop tails down to the ground and bowing their ABR-1s....!! I'm just going to recess the TOM instead :D

That and it makes my life a little easier working out the neck angle for the set neck. Having the posts adjustable from the top with a flat-bladed screwdriver is so useful. I really want one of these bridges though....I feel the need for an all-steel motif coming on!

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Recessed T-o-M you say . . . hmmm just think if there was a T-o-M designed with a flat bottom and bushes that don't protude from underneath the body of the brigde allowing to have a flush fitting recess pocket without needing to modify stud or bushes . . . B)

. . . I mean just how good would that be . . . B)

:D

Should have the bridge today - then I am going to discuss it with several companies - including a 6 string version - I am pretty sure a 6 string version of my bridge could be placed straight on a body and intonate perfectly (obviously I need to get a sample made and test it to confirm this claim!)

:D

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Doesn't that mean the bridge won't be height-adjustable though? TOMs are quite forgiving in that they can adjust out most variations in neck angle, which turned out to be very useful for Gibson, given their cavalier approach in that respect. :D

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Completely height adjustable and solid as a rock locked onto the screws. :D Even with the locking nuts there is very little moments due to the the tighter tolerances it is machines for.

I recieved the bridge today and it is pretty damn perfect - a few minor point on the design to be changed before any production run would occur. Also I need to nip to the nut & bolt shop here to get the type of screws for the saddle adjust I want - they ones they've used are what I wanted. Also on the note of the saddle screws they are wider screws (M3) than any of the Gotoh or Gibson thing t-o-m (M2 or 2.5 depending on the model). Once these are done I'll get some better pictures of the it up.

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Ok then you lucky people . . . :D

After a bit of messing around with screws - which still aren't perfect I really need to get the ones I want sent over from the UK . . here are some not so great pics from my phone! :D

Here is the bridge disassembled showing the bushes and studs in the body - you might notice the studs are slightly smaller than the studs, there is a reason for this!

bridgestuds.jpg

So drop the bridge on . . .

bridgemounted.jpg

and now lock it down . . .

bridge.jpg

and all is revealed . . .

sideview.jpg

As you can see even for a flush mounted bridge all you need to do is recess the bushes a few mm and volla . . or course the lower string side will end up being raised up for the playing action.

A few things aren't quite perfect with the machine work done - such as then not doing a slot in the stud top to allow the adjustment of bridge height with a screwdriver and obviously the screws and nuts aren't prefect these need sorting out. But as initial samples go it's not bad at all.

B)

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